The color change is from the oxidization and curing of the meat. The extra tenderness is caused by the fact that the meat was allowed to evaporate all the extra liquids. This means that all the time it was cooking it was rendering those fats in the steak. The other two had to evaporate the liquids first before starting to render their fats. Hope this helps.

I grew up on a cattle ranch. We initially had all Hereford cattle. If you don’t know the breeds, it’s a red with white face often curled hair on the face medium to large (for cattle breed) animal. They were gentle and often could become pet like animals that put on a lot of good marbling and fat. In the mid 80’s the media began telling everyone “fat is bad” so the packing houses started asking for Brangus and Angus characteristics. So we began transitioning to the Angus breed with some Brangus. These were not gentile, docile animals. They were incredibly muscular and far more high spirited. We had a lot of cows who would literally do all they could to kill you once we separated them from their calves.... and they would do this with long memories. Anyway, I noticed a massive change in the quality of the meat and fat content from the two breeds. I call it the dark years of meat production. Seemingly over a period of 10 years steaks went from heavily marbled, lots of fat to lean and mean. The Angus netted us more money as a producer but at a cost of needing more feedlot prep to get a good steak. This had two effects on the market. First the average stake house saw a decline in quality while the higher end steak houses saw a large increase in the cost of a properly fatted steer. We found it took 3-4x longer feeding and pampering during the early years of Angus/Brangus breeds to get deep rich marveling and flavor. That’s been 40+ years. Today the selective breeding and years of careful selection has made for a better Angus / Brangus steak. However, I recently ate some prime Hereford steaks and was reminded that it’s hard to beat the gentle and naturally fat generating Hereford. I’ll say this, Europe farmers never really bought into this “fat is bad” campaign as far as beef production goes. They ignored the media and kept producing what they had perfected long ago. Most of the cattle ranches, where I grew up, have a mix herd these days. Their cattle, genetically are a mix of Hereford, Angus, Brangus and Lemoisin. It’s interesting, the females are smaller than Hereford and most Angus cows. In general, their hornless. You’ll see a mix of colors with a lot of white faces. Most of the ranchers are using Angus Bulls and occasionally bringing in other breeds to “see what happens”. Our ranch (sold it in 1992) was in the mountains of NM where the Guadalupe and Sacramento Mountains collide. We found the largest breeds struggled, especially bulls like Lemoisin. Their extreme size and weight made it difficult for them to walk on the loose rocks and stratified outcrops. So much goes into a great steak even before it hits the grill. Fortunately, packing houses and ranchers have learned a lot from their mistakes. I tend to buy stakes from two places. Costco and a local butcher. The butchers steaks are more expensive but I love to support their business. I’ve tried the same experiment. If frozen, I like to thaw the stakes the day before by letting them thaw at room temperature. Then l salt, seal in plastic and then place in the fridge. The next day I’ll pull them out around 1 pm for a 5:30 pm cook time. I’ll season “to order” then either pan fry/sear then throw on the pellet grill until internal temp is 130-135. I’ll then set on table covered for 5-10 minutes prior to serving. Seems to work. Sorry for all the typos. The more I use auto correct the more stupid I become.

I tried salting my sirloin steak the day before I was going to cook it, and it turned out awesome. BEST steak I have had in a long time. Definitely will do this again. Thanks for the seasoning tip.

Good stuff! I've been a 1-hour guy for years, get it out and let it get to room temp. Then season and set aside, prep grill and whatever sides you're having, then cook. I also prefer open flame to skillet, but that's another discussion... Glad I found your channel.

Immediately after salting the steak, the salt rests on the surface of the meat, undissolved. All the steak's juices are still inside the muscle fibers. Within 3 or 4 minutes the salt, through the process of osmosis, will begin to draw out liquid from the beef. This liquid beads up on the surface of the meat. Cooking at this point and you waste valuable heat energy simply evaporating this large amount of pooled liquid and flavor-building browning reactions are inhibited. Starting at around 10 to 15 minutes, the brine formed by the salt dissolving in the meat's juices will begin to break down the muscle structure of the beef, causing it to become much more absorptive. The brine begins to slowly work its way back into the meat. By the end of 40 minutes, most of the liquid has been reabsorbed into the meat. A small degree of evaporation has also occurred, causing the meat to be ever so slightly more concentrated in flavor. That is way it is always recommended to salt at least 40 minutes in advance either for standard or reverse searing.

This video is 10 minutes longer than it needs to be.

Great results, salting the steak 24 hours before and letting it sit uncovered in the fridge is the exact same way Kenji does it and he's a master

When you salt it a leave it over night, it’s called dry brining, and in my opinion is the best way to salt meat.

Finally I can prove to my wife that salting and ageing meat makes a huge difference. Thanks n keep up the quality work.

I tried this method tonight - the one hour salt version - with a 3/4 inch porterhouse steak. It came out just great. My wife and I each had half of the filet and half of the rest (I got to gnaw the bone). Thanks so much for helping me create this great meal!

Very well done, and yes salting the day before is the way to go. As a 40 plus year meat cutter and part time grill cook i say great video. Another thing to consider, we used to let a whole ribeye sit in the walk- in cooler for 1 week. They were so much more tender than ribeyes that were cut the same day. I always sold those ribeyes to myself only because of inspectors, i didn't think they would approve of the practice but the difference was unbelievable. Ty for the video

You had me very anxiously waiting to see what you thought of the taste. I will definitely start salting more than one minute before which is how I've always done it.

Hey, one thing I noticed you should try experiment again: The 1 day steak had a different process than the other outside of the salting timeline. By stashing in the refrigerator exposed, salted or not, meat will be dried out, concentrating the flavor. It's kind of home done dry aging. I would suggest doing this again, keeping all 3 pieces on the same tray at all times, and only vary salting time. This would even out testing parameters such as temperature and moisture differences since all would be subject to the same movements at all times. Salt 1 steak 1 day prior Stash all 3 open shelf in refrigerator. Pull all 3, salt 1 hour prior on second steak Let all rest room temp together. Salt last steak 1 minute prior. Bonus for you... MORE STEAK!!!!

Steak 1: “great steak” Steak 2: “great steak” Steak 3: “great steak” Fantastic analysis lol

I wasn't even looking for this video, but it was straight forward and informative without all the fluff. Thanks for this.

I've started seasoning my steaks right when I take them out to warm up to room temp - about an hour, give or take. Glad to see my method is sound. Thanks for the experiment!

The cool part of this is I went to 13 minutes in, 1½ minute left, and learned to salt at least an hour before and preferably a day before.

Omg, thank you for doing this experiment! I bought some steaks on Thursday and didn’t get around to cooking them that night, I remembered your video and decided to salt them so they would be ready to go. I wound up leaving them salted for 48 hours and they were probably one of the most flavorful and tender steaks I’ve had in a while. This will now be my new method and your channel has move to my top favorites. Thank you for doing what you do!

Well crafted experiment. I’ve researched this subject a fair amount. Preference is of course the rule of thumb, but I agree with Mr. Brisket’s final conclusion. As an addition, when it comes to salting, one should either salt one minute prior to cook or wait at least 45 minutes, in between that time frame is not recommended. The explanation is that salt on meat triggers the moisture inside to rise to the surface, that begins to happen after about a minute of salting. That salted moisture then gets drawn back inside the meat and diffuses through the inside until about 45 minutes after salting. So if you cook in between that time frame you’ll end up cooking off a lot of that seasoned moisture before it has a chance to make its way back inside and you’ll end up with a dryer steak. At the minute mark you’re still good because that moisture is still inside, though you’ll end up with a blander inside with a saltier crust, nothing wrong with that, but my preference is definitely at least an hour to a day. Hope that might help any curious cooks out there.

I think I have always known this, but I appreciate seeing the experiment. Well done

Great job on the video. I have been salting steaks at least 45 minutes before cooking for years. Once you try it you will never go back. The flavor is better, the tenderness is better, and the outside sear is better. It just works. Cheers!

I’ve always salted at least 1hr, pat dry, add seasoning (no more salt), sear on grill for 3-5min per side...perfect rare/mid-rare. Turns out fantastic; flavorful & tender every time.

Dry brining has been my go to method ever since discovering it. It works extremely well for thicker steaks.

Yes! 🙌🏻 I've been salting my steaks a day ahead of time for years! I use a coarse salt and cover them for 24 hours. Remove. Pat dry. Then soak in a mix of worcestershire and soy sauce for another 24 hours. Remove. Pat dry. Get to room temp. Season with cracked peppers. Sear all sides in a pan with butter, garlic and rosemary. Into the over to finish off. Down the hatch! 🤤 I learned this from a chef at a nice country club. Never looked back lol

Great video. New suscriber. I once did a pork tomahawk with this dry brine method, although I used a rub of spices as well (I keep my salt and spices separated). Once it was ready, I cooked it on a charcoal grill with indirect heat at 400 °F, until it reached a core temperature of 138 °F, then rested it so carryover cooking rised the internal temperature all the way to 145 °F. At the end, I decided to sear it, although it was not necesary at all. If anything, it developed something between a steak crust and a BBQ bark. It was crunchy, smokey and delicious. Greetings from Sonora, México.

Thanks for information because I did NOT know how important salting steak was but now I DO. Thanks again!

Just stumbled across this. Great test. I have never done a side x side. The one thing I have noticed about doing 24hrs is that you need to sear the sides as well as the top bottom otherwise that harder rubber texture stays. Have you been doing more salting since this? Have you noticed what I did?

Yes... I just started doing this... omg what a difference... I only dry brined for an hour... next time I will try for a day! Thanks for the vids!

We had kind of figured this out on our own a few months ago. But it is nice to see that it's not just our imagination. And, great taste in beer!

I really like the salt crystals on the surface, and pepper too. I would like to try seasoning for hours and then with kosher or fleur-de-sel right prior to cooking, but I wonder what the risk of over-salting is. I'd have to experiment with quantities. It's fascinating because I worked in a high(ish)-end French bistro for a year and sold thousands of steaks; The procedure was to take out the steaks and salt/pepper them as the appetizers were ordered, and usually cook them at least one hour, sometimes two hours later. I NEVER knew that this was making much of a difference or why I was doing it, and my sous-chef and the head chef never mentioned it so I doubt they did either. They were just doing it the way the original French chef from the 80s had been doing it-the guy who made the place famous. Some knowledge has been around for a long time, it just needs to be shared more widely.

Great video thanks, really enjoyed the experiment. There's an easy 'steak hack' that we use in competitive steak competitions that your subscribers might find of interest. Get a big cheap box of coarse kosher or pickling salt ( no iodine in either) and pour a cup or so in a glass or ceramic tray lay the steak on top with full contact then pour a cup on top so it's fully covered. Leave it for one hour then thoroughly rinse it off with cold water, dry well with paper towels, lightly coat it with any high-heat oil, and season as usual (but just a little less salt if that's all you are using). Grill as you like and let rest for 15 min under tented foil. This technique has wins a ton of comps and is great at home to super-tenderize your beef in only an hour. Someone here will no doubt know the organic chemistry on this but I forgot the little chem knowledge I had back in the 80s lol

12 to 24 hours is amazing. I’ve got my strips in my fridge right now for dinner tomorrow, can’t wait!

Such a great comparison video! I used to dry brine(salting) over night in the fridge often. When I succeed the dry brine properly, the finished product is far superior than "salted one minute before steak" However, I failed couple times because I over salted and made the steak super salty and dry as a cardboard. After those couple failures, I stopped dry brining it. But when I watched your video, I wanna do that again.

I have been retired for one year now and have since been learning more and more on how to improve my cooking/grilling skills. I just discovered your channel today,where have you been lol, and like your style and have hit the like, subscribed along with the notification bell. I learned something today, always a good thing.

I'm not sure where I picked it up, seasoning my steaks a day before cooking, but I've been doing this for years. That little bit for prep goes a long way in putting love into the food!

💯🔥 Great steak grilling info, presentation and definitely will try the 24hr salted method. Look forward to looking up your other vids, subbed up here and notifications are on. Keep this good energy going • Be well

I always salt my steaks ahead of time. at least 15 minutes per quarter inch of thickness to give it time to soak in and help tenderize also.

So I only started cooking a few months ago at 28. I also am an ex-vegan as of a month ago. I have to say, this was the perfect way to eat red meat for the first time all over again. I did a 20 hour brine (missed for a few hours but we couldn’t wait lol). I seared it in cultured butter rather than avocado oil. It has a high smoke point and adds a bit of tang. No other seasonings. It’s also the first time I’ve made something in my new cast iron pan. Just awesome. If my boyfriend doesn’t propose to me now, I don’t know if anything will work. You’re the best, thank you so much.

I just realized that when you got to 1 hour steak testing I was already drooling ...:) on my way to butcher shop!

I sometimes put my favorite rub the day before and set it in the forage for twenty four hours, always comes out good. Awesome video everyone should watch this video.

Dry aged meat usually cooks a bit faster than not. When you’re salting it and putting it in the fridge, you’re doing a bit of dry aging for that steak. It wouldn’t really have any impact if you did it with a roast and then cut the steak from that roast, but individual steaks dry age very quickly. I typically cook to a lower temp when I cook dry aged meat or a steak that I’ve salted the day before. If I’m doing a sous video it’s probably 2-4 degrees lower before going and searing it.

I agree with a lot of the comments, me specifically I wasn't even looking for food. This salt idea came up in conversation the other day and your title was spot on for sparking my interest and i watched the entire video not realizing 14 minutes just passed by. Great video! Great test! Will be trying and recommending this video to people in my future conversations! :)

Pretty glad you liked the 24 hour method. I've been sticking to that as much as I can whenever cooking steaks and I've even noticed the big difference in flavor impact throughout the steak for years. My most recent steak was only 1 hour, but like you said, that 1 hour makes an enormous difference. Cheers!

Thank you for keeping it honest! Night before marinade or rubs give time for more FUSION/flavor to permeate. Analogy: It's like the staying power difference between body paint vs tattoo

This is lit. I tried a 48hrs salt and pepper marinade vs. 3 hrs, and the result are evident The 48 hrs has more flavor and tastier compared to the latter. This is really amazing. Thanks for sharing.

In Sweden we eat gravlax as some of you might know. But you can do the same with tenderloin and just rub salt and sugar into it and keep it in the fridge for three days - comes out wonderful without any cooking at all!

I always try to age my steaks a couple weeks then while bringing them to room temperature I add the seasons... with the kosher salt I add black pepper and garlic powder... makes for really happy steaks!

Interesting! I'm having tenderloins for dinner and had them sitting in the fridge unsalted until I watched this video. I just went and salted and seasoned them and put them back in the fridge. Four hours to cook time so I get to try out this pre-seasoning technique. I might even post sear them for good measure. Thanks for the tips! Worst part of watching was seeing you taste each steak.

The salt denatures the proteins within the meat, making it a lot juicier. Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat is a great book to read

Awsome experiment. Red meat prepared perfectly is a thing of beauty.

Well done. Excellent video. I really enjoyed the honest expert analysis. 10/10!

We tried this method for the first time today. Only did the 1 hour, then added garlic pepper and onion powder about 30 minutes prior to grilling. OMG.. haven’t had a ribeye that delicious in quite some time. I’m sold.. you got me. Thanks for the info and happy grilling.

Starting with a good dry surface of the meat in the pan will greatly increase the sear in my experience at any rate

Nice. I've been doing this for a few years. I thought it was common knowledge :)

I always treat my meats with their seasoning, rubs, or marinades the day prior, and refrigerate overnight. It makes a huge difference in flavor and tenderness, especially on wild game.

Great video. I will try salting an hour out and as I have time a day out. I was trained to salt just the top side, sear the steak, flip - now the salt is on the bottom, it pulls the juices back through the steak. Danny & Lynn

One thing I noticed that might throw the results off a bit: The 1 Day Salted Steak was put unwrapped into the fridge, while the other two were wrapped and pulled out the next day for cooking. I would think that would allow the outside of that steak to dry more than the others and thus increase the Millard Reaction to allow more browning of that steak over the other two. Perhaps you could re-do the experiment and put all three steaks on the wire rack over-night. Also, I recently saw a video that said to get the proper reaction from salting a steak, it must be allowed to rest for a minimum of 40 minutes before cooking, otherwise, you've just wasted the salt.

Oh yum. I'm making steak this weekend for sure! I honestly like the way you did the reverse sear method, never tried it that way before. They looked perfect! Thanks!

Good video. Might try the 1 day, 1 hour, 1 min test next time. Sometimes I do reverse sear, others, 2 1/2 min each side high heat on grill. Love them all. Thanks.

Glad I found your video. I only had some T-bone steaks and I salted them this morning before work. 10 hours later, I wasn't sure if I should wipe off all the salt and re-season or just use what was still on from this morning. Well, I ended up wiping just a little off and added black pepper...Mind you, my steaks were only like 1-1/2 inches. Thanks for teaching me the reverse sear!

Gave you a thumbs up for the show! Alton Brown did a Good Eats show explaining salts effect on meat. And in his Good Eats norm, it went to the molecular level of how it breaks down proteins to provide a better meet.

I learned something new. I was always under the impression that salting meat before cooking it made it tougher. Great video. New Sub.

Great video. I really enjoy the scientific approach to cooking. The only thing I'd do differently is to cook a steak that wasn't salted. That would answer the question of whether or not leaving the steak in the fridge uncovered is responsible for any differences.

I tried the 1 day dry brine on a prime ribeye and a prime New York. It turned out pretty good. I used a little too much salt though, next time I think it will be better.

I'd absolutely recommend using ghee as it's butter still but with a much higher smoke point. I'm from a butcher family, my father hipped me to this. For me, it's better than any oil.

Man, I am so glad I found your channel. Trying the reverse sear method for the 1st time. I have typically been salting and letting the meat sit for many hours but I'll have to try at a full day the next round of steaks.

Thanks, very good video and the results are pretty much what I expected. I subscribed to your channel.

I agree 100% with the results of your test. The only thing I would add is that the process of salting draws some of the juices out of the meat. If the steak is allowed to sit for an hour or overnight (my favorite), the extracted juices are allowed to retract back into the steak. Salting just before cooking lets the extracted juices cook off into the pan (or other cooking medium) thereby making the steak less juicy, less tender and less tasty. I'm amazed at how many good cooks don't know this. Good work!

I already commented halfway through but after finishing I really have to say....man this is really well produced. Outstanding.

These steaks looks SO good

LOVE the music in the background!!! I was moshing around my house listening to it while I was watching!!!!!

Great video! We have dry brined with kosher salt for 2 days and then grill!

8:42 And now its time for my favourite part. (Obviously, like most KZfaq vids,this is where the advert kicks in.)

Doing this for years and 4 hours is sweet spot and 24hrs is usually the max. So sit the steak to defrost after breakfast. Dry pat and salted. By 4 hours it absorbs enough salt and evaporates enough air it dries out the surface moisture. This develops a better crust, taste better, and tender, and salts evenly. It gets better at 24 hours, the steak gets really solid and firm before cooking but IMO I don't like waiting that long, the difference is slight.

I am going to try this over the weekend. Looks fantastic.

Great video. Loved the detail and concept. Thanks for sharing.

I'm rarely one to say this bc I don't think channels "deserve" followers, but your production quality is so incredible. I assumed you'd have at least a million subs.

I have to agree with alchwarrior. I cannot believe how good this was. KZfaq suggested it to me I believe because I have been investigating a Komado style grill. Good call, you are awesome... now to catch up.

First time I've viewed a video of yours, but seeing you're a Read Meat Lover, have you ever cooked sous vide, followed by a reverse sear? We love (especially) steaks cooked sous vide, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts. Great video, I'll catch more of yours.

Going to try your method with an hour salting and oven. Thanks for publishing this video.

As 'alchwarrior' stated " I can’t believe it took me so long to finally come across your channel. New subscriber! Awesome content". Fantastic video and now I gotta go get me some steaks...

New drinking game: take a shot every time he says “candidly”

First time viewer, great presentation...you had me at having a beer and talking conspiracy theories... but watching the color change and texture was interesting. I always try to let my dinner come to room temp and season it for about an hour before putting it on the grill. This was good. Thank you.

When I reverse sear I only heat to an internal temp of about 105 and then sear the outside for about 2 minutes a side, depending on the thickness of the meat. I think it gets a little bit better crust that way and the fat cap gets a little more crispy. Just my two cents.

Hey dude, great video! Loved it, I just have a quick question, just to make sure, when you said 250° it's on Fahrenheit right? That's about 121 Celsius.

Celtic sea salt or Mediterranean sea salt are amazing on steaks, I have a morter and pestil so I crush mine a little

Can't wait to try this on my next steak. Thanks!

As an American and a huge fan of steaks, I can honestly say that this has truly been a video.

This randomly popped up in my recommendations today. Earned a sub. Nice work and I look forward to exploring your content.

Hmmm. The 1 minute and 1 hr steaks were not exposed to open cold air for 1 day. You are changing two factors - salt content and open to cold air. The other two steaks should have been open to cold air for 24hrs as well. The drying process may intensify flavour

So happy i stumbled upon your video, and im even happier to subscribe. Ive tried several methods of cooking steaks , and each one is an epic FAIL. i will try this reverse method now. Thank you! I cant wait to try again! 😎 Fyi, i want the meat the color of theae steaks, but i tend to over cook or under or over salt. Then ive tried salted and unsalted butter, and it comes out with little flavor. I follow so many directions on the oven temp, but its been to high. Thank you for the detailed info.

Great follow-up as about 2 weeks ago or more I watched Jean Pierre do a review of something the stakes a day ahead

Where have you been all my life? You just got yourself one new subscriber.

All I watched was the intro. Instant subscribe. You had me at RED MEAT LOVER 😂😂

Great vid. Just time all of your processes to finish at the same time :)

Good stuff, I’m trying this experiment also!

I always dry age my steaks for 1-2 days in the fridge before bringing them to room temp & cooking them. May want to try aging all of them in the open part of the fridge rather than 2 being covered. Will be much more of an apples to apples comparison

When you came around the at the end of the video to "give us a bite" it made my mouth water. That is really not fair! ; )

Great video, very interesting results.... following as of now

We had steaks tonight. Maybe KZfaq is spying on us, but low and behold, here's your video out of the blue on my front page. So I watched and naturally, I had to subscribe! I picked up two points. Reverse searing is the way to go for thicker steaks, and two ... I'm not using nearly enough salt (I also use garlic powder). Nice experiment, appreciate you sharing.